Illuminating and Advancing Health Equity Research

By Keith Gillogly

Taking place on April 25 at the Buffalo Museum of Science, the event included pilot study presentations, poster sessions, panel discussions, and a keynote address from Zeneta B. Everhart, the Buffalo Common Council’s president pro tempore and Masten District councilwoman. 

While welcoming attendees, Heather M. Gardiner, PhD, MPH, director of CHERI, Carl V. Granger Endowed Chair in Health Equity, and professor of family medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, emphasized community collaboration.

“Across the University at Buffalo, community engagement research is not an add-on. It’s central to who we are. It reflects our belief that the most meaningful and lasting solutions to health disparities must be developed with communities, not for them,” Gardiner said.

“What inspires me is seeing how this work is already taking shape," she added, “research that builds trust, strengthens relationships, and translates knowledge into action.”

While speaking to the audience, Everhart focused on a topic she knew well: her own life and how she’s been “a perfect test case for health equity.”

Everhart was born and raised on the East Side of Buffalo. After her parents divorced when she was 12 years old, her world fractured. Her mom became depressed, started using drugs, and struggled to find work. She recalls moving all over the East Side, living without electricity or gas, going hungry, and eventually facing eviction. “We dealt with a lot of traumas.”

After earning her associate degree at Villa Maria College while raising her son alone — a journey complicated by childcare struggles that nearly derailed her — she went on to complete her bachelor's degree at Canisius University and became a producer with Spectrum News.

Everhart would go on to serve as director of diversity and inclusion for the office of then-New York State Senator Tim Kennedy, where she helped review legislation and created Single Moms Club Buffalo to support mothers facing circumstances similar to hers.   

Then came the May 14 racist mass shooting in Buffalo in 2022. One of the people shot was Everhart’s son, Zaire. He survived, and Everhart was thrust into the spotlight.

She became a staunch advocate for gun control and equity during numerous media interviews and bookings with legislators. She visited the White House multiple times.

“Never in my life did I think that this Black girl from the East Side of Buffalo would be sitting across the table from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,” she said.

“I did not just talk about what happened to my son. I talked about the inequities that are happening on the East Side of Buffalo,” Everhart said. “And about how the East Side of Buffalo is not unique and that there are East Sides of Buffalo across the country.”

The experience ignited her run for the Masten District council position.

“I want my story to be ingrained in all of your minds as you are thinking about health equity.” 

Researchers took the podium to discuss their pilot projects on mental health in Buffalo elementary school children, promoting bystander CPR education and AED access, community health workers embedded in pediatric clinics, and culturally and racially tailored collaborative pregnancy tracking technology.

During a poster session, undergraduate researcher Naomi Nworisa discussed the association between adverse childhood experiences and higher risk of diabetes in adulthood, work she is doing with the Division of Population Health in the Jacobs School’s Department of Medicine.

“As a minority myself and an immigrant, I have always been very interested in health equity and how different populations are affected by chronic diseases,” she said. “I’m at the point where I’m learning about different interventions and understanding a lot of these issues at a population level to hopefully influence health care policies and broader systemic change.”

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry are exploring a music mindfulness intervention to improve outcomes for children with ADHD and anxiety-related symptoms.

“Our project is looking at how music and mindfulness can come together and reduce symptoms of ADHD and anxiety in children,” said third-year medical student MiKayla Byron. “The intervention is partially for families who are not super keen on giving their children medication. This could be a supplemental way of helping to reduce symptoms.”

“We’ve seen a huge gap in the misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of ADHD in Black and underserved communities,” said Deborah Frimpong, who recently completed her biomedical sciences master’s degree at the Jacobs School. Because of stigma surrounding ADHD in Black communities, alternative therapies could be popular and effective, she said.

After the poster session, a panel of physician and researcher experts discussed navigating health equity during the current political climate. The conversation focused on broadening equity to encompass more than race and policy issues, using data as a persuasive means of highlighting inequities, and understanding access to health care and other resources as fundamental to equity.

The final panels of the day focused on building trust and centering community voices. Researchers talked about pledging not to launch any project that did not include a community partner. Above all, they emphasized continuing to listen to the community.

“Take the time to listen,” said Annette Colden, breast cancer survivor and volunteer with The Witness Project, which educates women about breast cancer. “Build the trust. Don’t just do the survey to get the numbers.”